Instructor faces criminal charges after 'poor English' played role in deadly bungee jump

A Spanish court says a bungee jumping instructor's poor English may have led a 17-year-old Dutch woman to jump to her death without being connected by rope to a viaduct in northern Spain two years ago.

Dutch teenager Vera Mol

Dutch teenager Vera Mol Source: Facebook

The northern Cantabria regional court says the instructor's order of "no jump," instead of "don't jump," may easily have been understood by the victim as "now jump."

The instructor is under investigation for negligent homicide. The death occurred at the 32-metre-high Cabezon de la Sal viaduct in August 2015.

The court said bungee jumping was prohibited on the viaduct and that the woman lacked parental permission to practice the sport. Neither the woman nor the instructor was named.

The court said that a trial in the case is yet to be ordered.

 


Share

1 min read

Published

Source: AP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world